Those Tiny Blue Veins You Get

Bloodvessels of the Eyelids

Yes, to quote myself from a comment I posted on my son's self-portrait:

'Those little zigzaggy lines above his eyes are those tiny blue veins you get. A curious choice for inclusion, and a lovely detail. I've read many novels, and I can't think of a single character whose little blue veins were given mention.'

And here's a snippet from Anne Enright's Booker Prize-winning The Gathering:

He is not good-looking. His mouth is too squished and full; he is too soft and unformed. But there is nothing wrong with him. I look at his hands and they do not disgust me, and his eyelids, when he closes them, flickering, in order to make a point about buffed steel as opposed to chrome, have a faint pattern on them of medieval veins.

I would tell my son that he inspired a Man Booker winner, but it might make him vain.